Tower of Silence

by Sarah Rayne

Selina March has lived in the remote Scottish hamlet of Inchcape for nearly 50 years. When she reluctantly takes in a paying guest, her secluded life changes forever. Crime writer Joanna Savile has come to interview the inmates at nearby Moy, the asylum for the criminally insane. Her secret aim is to question former child murderer, Mary Maskelyne, Moy’s most infamous patient. Joanna’s prying will yield unexpected results, for although they have never met, Selina March and Mary Maskelyne are connected by a shared family tragedy—an act of unspeakable cruelty that took place in India 50 years earlier.

Genres: Horror, Mystery, Fiction, Gothic, Thriller, Suspense, Scotland

491 pages, Mass Market Paperback

First published August 4, 2003

About the author

Aka Frances Gordon, Bridget Wood

After a convent education, which included writing plays for the Lower Third to perform, Sarah Rayne embarked on a variety of jobs, but - probably inevitably - returned again and again to writing. Her first novel appeared in 1982, and since then her books have also been published in America, Holland and Germany.

The daughter of an Irish comedy actor, she was for many years active in amateur theatre, and lists among her hobbies, theatre, history, music, and old houses - much of her inspiration comes from old buildings and their histories and atmospheres. To these interests, she adds ghosts and ghost stories, and - having grown up in the Sixties - good conversation around a well-stocked dinner table.

Reviews

[Laura Andersen · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was actually a re-read. Sarah Rayne is one of my favorite writers of gothic, psychological, maybe-ghosty-sometimes, dark but always with an underlying feeling of good existing in this world as well as evil . . . yeah. But Tower of Silence is one of my two favorites of her many books. The effects of extreme trauma on young children, especially in a time and place where little was known about how to help them, is so sad and compelling. Not for those who don't like darkness, death, murder, and madness.

[Bron S · Rating 5 out of 5]

Again, this is a terrific book. The characters are very intriguing. I love the way Sarah writes her books. I can't wait to read more.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

The first novel by this author, I read this on the off chance..... and have been hooked by everyone of her other novels since! Her characterisation is brilliant. All her books have multiple time-lines and drip with atmosphere. This is the first and my opinion the best. Enjoy!

[Robyn · Rating 4 out of 5]

The Book
Meet timid Selina March, 50 years after she was taken in by her Great Aunts and Uncle to live with them in Teind House, Inchcape Scotland following the brutal and traumatizing murder of her parents in India.
She has lived what seems to be a spectacularly ordinary life, until the arrival of author Joanna Savile. Joanna is looking to research life as an inmate in an asylum for the criminally insane; Moy is where she sets her sights and inhabited there, Mary Maskelyne – Joanna’s main objective.
When Joanna goes missing her husband is one of the first to start questioning what Joanna’s true objective was in coming to Inchcape, leading to a chance encounter which breaks the door down between two worlds seemingly unrelated, but more similar than anyone could have ever realised.

I liked
1. Rayne did an incredible job at bringing past and present together, transitioning smoothly and in a way that built the story line to a surprising climax without detracting any attention from either location and its significance to the overall story
2. There was a sneaky little love story thrown in which I didn’t quite expect, but thoroughly enjoyed. It made the book a little less dark and brought what may be a much needed lightheartedness (for some readers) to the book.
3. There’s a gradual release of information from all characters that lets you know there’s a twist coming, without giving away so much info that you’re able to guess it. Each character proves their need to belong in the book, so there doesn’t feel like there are any hangers-on per se.
4. Rayne is able to take a psychological thriller, centralizing around trauma and mental illness, and puts a gentle, almost compassionate tone to leave the reader feeling challenged, but not scared by the story or where it may be leading. Great for more sensitive readers
5. Two climaxes which I never saw coming. I once again found myself exclaiming allowed my surprise. Not too much info lest I accidentally include a spoiler ;)

I disliked
1. There were two reunions that I felt really should have been included but that weren’t. Usually I’d be OK with this as it means the high likelihood of there being a sequel, only there isn’t one and I feel like I’ve been left with loose ends
2. There was an alternate interaction I would have loved to see play out between Mary and Selina which I was expecting to occur but never did, slightly disappointed there.
This book looks at the ability we have as individuals to deal with tragedy and trauma in our lives, it focuses on the age old debate of whether evil is borne or bred and how we as society can sometimes be as vital in developing a criminal’s sadistic personality through attention, opinion and conversation as their upbringing or general character is.
There is a degree of shock and horror in the initial events that occur, though described in the manner Rayne uses, one is able to experience the emotions experienced by the characters without it clouding the ability to follow the impact each action of the victims has on the rest of the story. This book is one of those works I’d be interested in seeing made into something for the screen, even if it’s only straight-to-dvd as I think a lot more can be obtained through visual aid as well.

[Steven Walle · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was a pretty interesting read. I will give a full book review on it later today. Enjoy and Be Blessed.
Diamond

[Aaron Atterson · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good start. Bad ending.

[Brandy Sharpe · Rating 4 out of 5]

Sarah Rayne spins a delightfully dark yarn fraught with suspense- she weaves various POVs together until she brings us to a culminating climax that you don't expect until you read it. I very much enjoyed this. I've even made notes, because I'm a writer, too... And I want to be a wee bit like Sarah someday.


I particularly like her use of the fabric (kind of metaphor, more like a photography effect) during Selina's PTSD episode. It lends an almost poetic feeling to the story.

In fact, I feel like she took a mental illness, PTSD, and spread it out in two, if not three different characters. (Except Mary, I'm really not sure about Mary. I really expected there to be a much more solid reason for her Mania... She seems to be something like a psycho or sociopath with mania symptoms.) Mainly, it's Selina and Christabel that seem mainly represented by PTSD. Of course, not everyone with PTSD is dangerous, and while I dislike that she does that, she did it because drama sells. This was published before the 2000's and she wasn't exactly a big author- a bit like Joanna Saville if truth be told. But I can imagine it would have been very difficult for her to take up the cause of mental illness at that time. However, she doesn't completely leave the question of mental illness in the air as to her opinion either- she voices it in the denouement through Emily. It isn't obvious and is artfully done, even linked to the following scenes. (A splash of happiness...)

[Elle]

FIRST BOOK OF MY "RE-READING SARAH RAYNE" PROJECT IS FINISHED

I remembered the basic plot of this one a lot better than I assumed. I recall when I read it the first time I'd been impressed by how Rayne dealt with the far-reaching impact of childhood trauma when it goes unaddressed or ignored and honestly, I feel the same after the re-read. It's the kind of book where people do horrible things but you end up feeling sorry for them rather than viewing them as villainous. It's all overwrought of course but not in a way that ends up insulting the actual reality of trauma and violence and its effects

I did think there were some plot aspects that could have had more of an impact the fact that Christabel is actually still alive is basically kind of irrelevant to the main plot; you could have removed her existing and it wouldn't have changed anything but overall the book held up well and I enjoyed rereading it as much as I did reading it the first time!

[Kim · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really enjoyed this book, if you can suspend disbelief enough to cope with the coincidences that lead to several characters linked by historical events coming together in an isolated Scottish community. Several of the female characters have been badly affected by the repercussions of events during the Indian uprisings which damaged them and created some seriously-disturbed individuals. Mary Maskelyne's older sister, Christy, died in the incident but her parents have been unable to move on or forget, ignoring Mary and enshrining Christy's memory - until Mary snaps and wreaks her vengeance; Selina March survives the incident but her parents both die and will go to great lengths to honour their memory. Some violent incidents and very disturbed characters combine to make this a gripping read and I will certainly read more by this author - 8/10.

[Kandace · Rating 3 out of 5]

I thought this was a fairly good read. I think that the author started out with a excellent plot idea but I feel she started getting lost in her book. Halfway through I kept thinking she’s telling me about all these characters lives and what they’ve been through but I kept asking what point is she trying to reach. After finishing the book I’m still questioning it. But I will say it does keep you interested. I didn’t care for the ending. She builds up for a big thing at the end but it doesn’t come through. So as you can tell from this review, I’m as lost on the review as the author was with the book. I will continue to read her books though because she’s still an excellent writer. This one just didn’t do anything for me.

[Nik · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thoroughly enjoyed this book. I'd been aware of Sarah Rayne but had never read any of her work but luckily found a few of her books in a local thrift store so I snapped the up. This was the first one of hers that I read and I was very impressed.

A reclusive spinster. A cold hearted murderess. A Terrifying Secret that unites them...

This is such a great read. I'm definitely gonna read more of her work.

[Derith Rolfe · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gripping

What a complex web we weave. Horrific acts from the past, created confused and disturbed individuals in the present. Is a serial killer born or created. Maybe a little bit of both.

[Morven · Rating 5 out of 5]

An awesome well written book that I could not put down. I am having trouble finding Ms. Rayne's previous books at any local libraries. Would love to read her haunted house series.

[Kim Dallmeier · Rating 4 out of 5]

Always enjoy these Gothic Ghostly tales!

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

More graphic & gorey than the other thrillers I’ve read by this author. A real page-turner with plenty surprises. More sex & violence than I care for in a book though.

[Windy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I really enjoyed this thriller which is full of intrigue, flitting back in time to hint at how the past defines the present

[Bev Trueman · Rating 4 out of 5]

A bit dark and gruesome. However quite a few twists and turns in the storyline to make it interesting.

[Kdub · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reread

[Victoria Norris-MacLean · Rating 3 out of 5]

It was OK

[Billy Lockhart · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a different one for me , but once started, I could not put down. A well written story that brings it all together in the end.

[Kaethe · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rayne takes an incident in the past, something really, really, nasty, that not surprisingly, traumatizes the hell out of everyone involved. And then she sees what happens to those people as time passes: how do they cope, or fail to? She's pure genius at imagining horrible things that can happen to people, and horrible things that people can do. But she doesn't operate on just the one level, even as some people bear these dreadful scars, other people bear other scars, all kinds of different people show up, so there's a very old-fashioned spinster, and a very modern young woman with strangely colored hair, and they get along quite well. There is a bit of instalove, but in a delightful change from the YA world, these characters reason against it. I know, right? Just because they feel that connection they don't suddenly cast aside their whole lives and give in to it.

I like an author who is sympathetic to her characters, and in this story, partially set in a high-security institution for the criminally insane, there is both great compassion for, and mistrust of the inmates. The ambivalence of wanting to help, and knowing that these people can never be cured; of understanding the traumas that wrecked them, as well as fearing the damage they could still do: this is some finely nuanced stuff.

Despite the really, really, nasty bits, the book is fun. Rayne isn't afraid to get meta, to create a gothic scene, to give it lightening, and to have characters think how very gothic it all is. Jane Austen observed that characters in books seem never to read books. Rayne is having none of that. Story is vitally important to everyone as a way to make sense of their world, and so we are let into the minds of people as they try out different versions of the story they are in: fairy tales, religious teachings, newspaper headlines, dinner table anecdotes. That dense layering of story is a delight to readers.

Lida's copy.

[C. (Comment, never msg). · Rating 4 out of 5]

I nearly gave five stars! Three electrifying reunions did not occur that would have furnished climactic moments. How could Sarah Rayne not deliver a revelation for which we were tautly-braced? All of it is gripping and the other threads closed with finesse. I read these 500 pages in two sittings! "Tower Of Silence" pulled me along until 4:00 AM! Ultimate omissions notwithstanding, it is fantastic and encompasses our attention. It is macabre, gross occasionally, and describes shocking funereal methods that I hope were defunct, isolated practices: letting birds devour bodies!

Everything revolves around foreign children in India being executed by terrorists and the surviving child also witnessing her parents' deaths. Readers are taken through the scarred outcome of an adult who never stopped pining for her only friends. One couple who had a child in that group handled things so poorly, that portion was implausible. Modern characters give us lightness and humour, with a benign narrative that makes the novel easy to like. Sporadic memories of awful deeds are manageable. The story is largely about present day mysteries that aren't frightening. The worst events are over, which creates a bizarre dappling of dark and light but all of it works. Sarah fuses numerous timelines and personages well.

Having thick enough skin for some gory territory rewards us with an unusually palatable psychological thriller. It does not have the sting or dryness of that genre. The tone resembles much more the excitement of unravelling secrets and hunting for hidden rooms in an English tower! This novel has many sides and ever-changing tones; most of them delightful. Instead of dividing viewpoints, Sarah actually seems to subtly switch the protagonist! I hope I have readers of my review anxious to try this for themselves. I am amazed I sped through it so quickly.

[LJ · Rating 3 out of 5]

TOWER OF SILENCE (Thriller-UK-Cont) – G
Rayne, Sarah – Standalone
Simon & Schuster, 2001- UK Trade paperback
Teind House, with it’s Norman round tower, and it’s owner, Selina March, seem lost in the 19th Century. It is also near Moy, an asylum for the criminally insane and now the residence of Mary Maskelyne, an infamous murderer who starting killing as a child. When crime writer Joanna Saville becomes a paying guest at Teind House, she stumbles on a secret that causes threads of traumatic incidents from the past to unravel with brutal results.
*** Ms. Rayne has written a book of powerful psychological suspense that begins with a horrifying tragedy and impacts each of the characters in terrifying ways. Although the plot is built on coincidence, the characters are effectively developed leaving one with a feeling of sympathy and aversion at the same time. The catalyst is appalling but believable. I’ll admit to not being a huge fan of the psychological thriller so I’m not certain this is a book I can say I really liked, but it certainly is a book that held my attention and kept me reading. If you are a fan of this genre, I do recommend it.

[minky moo · Rating 4 out of 5]

Loved it

A clever story with past and present interwoven, wonderful characters with real depth. Did not want to put this down.

[Mary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was good, again, Sarah Rayne tells a story based in present day and the past. The story in the past is of a kidnapping in India fifty years before, of a group of children and their terrifying ordeal of being taken to the Tower of Silence in Alwar, where they were executed, all but one, Selina, who escaped. Her parents were also executed there, so she was orphaned and sent back to England to live with her two grand-aunts and grand uncle. The events there lead to the present day and are also linked to a criminally insane 14-years old murderess, Mary Maskelyne, who is transferred to the Moy Asylum near Selina's home. Mary, now in her 40's, had a sister who was amongst the children kidnapped in Alwar. It's a dark tale, no doubt about it. The house Selina lives in and has lived in since she returned from India as a child, is gloomy and athmospheric, as it the Tower that overlooks the back of the house and reminds her of Alwar. I think she "over-egged" the pudding just a bit, with the amount of fractured minds that were about.

[Gwen P · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book! I've been looking for new authors to read (as I'm waiting for all my favorite series authors to release new books) and even though I'm typically a police procedural reader, I was intrigued by the description of this book. Tower of Silence reminded me a bit of Sharon Bolton's early books (pre-Lacy Flint) mixed with a pure gothic thriller.
There were several story lines going at once and a large cast of characters, but it all came together in an exciting, kind of creepy book. To boil the plot down to a central theme, all the plot threads revolve around the pernicious lasting effects of childhood tragedy.
One thing that really impressed me about this book was the pacing. There was so much story there, and Rayne launched into big reveals almost right away, and never really let up. This was definitely a thriller, and it had some really spooky elements that stuck with me afterwards. I enjoyed the twists and turns, and was even genuinely surprised a few times.
I will definitely be reading more by Sarah Rayne!

[Barbra · Rating 3 out of 5]

First book by this author that I have read and it was quite a good read. Gripping ending.

Back Cover Blurb:
Selina March has lived in the remote Scottish hamlet of Inchcape, with its mysterious Round Tower, for nearly fifty years. When she reluctantly acccepts a paying guest, her secluded life will change forever.
Crime writer Joanna Savile has come to interview the inmates at Moy, the asylum for the criminally insane situated nearby. Her secret aim is to question former child murderer, Mary Maskelyne, Moy's most infamous patient.
Joanna's prying will yield unexpected results. For, although they have never met, Selina March and Mary Maskelyne are connected by a shared family tragedy: a terrible act of unspeakable cruelty that took place in India fifty years before.
And there are secrets in Selina's more recent past too. Secrets that are about to be uncovered with the most horrifying consequences.....

[Victoria · Rating 5 out of 5]

Another expertly plotted book! I really enjoyed this "dark and stormy night"-type tale very much! Quite riveting! And, like her other books, there was definitely a layering to both the plot and characters. I was, however, a bit disappointed with the ending of this one. There were some characters that never got to interact that I wanted to see, and I thought that the biggest mystery of all (how did Selina, so very reclusive, come to have a goddaughter in the first place?!) went unsolved. So, while I was definitely hooked from the very beginning, there were some loose threads that I would have preferred to see tied up. Still, I am looking forward to reading other books by this very talented author!

[Tracey Allen at Carpe Librum · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've been off work this week (torn ligament in my ankle) and have had lots of time for reading and just finished reading Tower of Silence by Sarah Rayne. This is the second book of hers I've read and I think I enjoyed it even more than the first. Rayne uses the same method of plot construction in that the story consists of multiple plots and characters that manage to come together in the end in an unexpected way.

This time the 'creepy historical building' was the Tower of Alwar and the Tower of Inchcape and they were certainly creepy. I really enjoyed this book, and can't believe I picked it up in a bookshop for only $9.95.

[Hilary · Rating 3 out of 5]

It would be easy to dismiss Sarah Rayne's thrillers as shabby little shockers. They do, indeed, tend toward the overly gruesome, and they rely far too heavily on extreme coincidence in this one three woman, all affected in some way by an act of horrific violence in India in the late 40s, all end up in the same small village in Scotland in the present (she even acknowledges this coincidence at one point in the narrative, and tries to handwave it away), but they're compelling reading nevertheless. Thrilling, in fact and, well that's what they set out to be.